Use and Management of Physicians’ Feelings During the Interview

Abstract

Interviewers’ personal feelings are key to successful communication, a healthy physician/patient relationship, and detection of relevant clinical information (Ekstein, 1972; Schuster, 1972; Engel, 1977a; Johnson, 1979; Schildkrout, 1980; Sherer, 1980; Gorlin, 1983; Smith, 1984, 1986; Smith and Zimny, 1988; Suchman, 1988). Virtually every interviewer exhibits an emotional response to patients, usually incompletely recognized (Smith and Zimny 1988; Smith 1984). Some emotional reactions have adverse potential for patients and the communication process, whereas other emotions can be quite beneficial (Smith, 1984, 1986; Smith and Zimny, 1988). This means that interviewers’ feelings are a prime consideration for interviewers and educators. When there is full awareness of personal feelings, benefit to patient and interviewer alike usually follows (Ekstein, 1972; Schuster, 1972; Engel, 1977; Johnson, 1979; Schildkrout, 1980; Sherer, 1980; Gorlin, 1983; Suchman, 1988).